World
Sri Lanka seizes key rebel defense line
WATCH VIDEO
Source: CCTV.com | 01-07-2009 14:36
Sri Lanka says its troops have broken through the Tamil Tigers' northern defense lines, opening another active front in their war against the beleaguered guerrilla fighters.
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Sri Lankan policemen in Colombo in September 2008. |
The capture of Muhamalai on the Jaffna peninsula by Sri Lankan government forces is another blow to the Tamil Tigers. A government spokesman said army troops seized the rebels' front lines on Tuesday.
He said the government hopes to clear the entire north of rebels in coming weeks, ending the 25-year-old civil war that has killed more than 70-thousand people on this Indian Ocean island nation.
The renewed government offensive from the south has forced the rebels to abandon much of their territory, including their administrative capital of Kilinochchi last week. But troops in the Jaffna peninsula had been unable to break open the Tamil Tigers' heavily fortified northern lines.
On Tuesday, government troops raced across the front lines and captured rebel positions in about an hour, facing little resistance. Officials say those troops were closing in on the strategic town of Elephant Pass and had cut off the main route connecting insurgents in the area with rebel bases to the south.
Only a tiny sliver of land along the east coast now remains under Tamil Tiger control, connecting the two sections of rebel territory.
Editor:Zhang Yun
